HONORIUS (Flavius Honorius), ROMAN EMPEROR. — Son of Theodosius the Great, b. in Constantinople on 9 Sept. 384, d. at Ravenna on 15 Aug. 423. In 393, together with his brother Arcadius, he was proclaimed Augustus and associated in the government of the Empire. Upon the death of his father (395) he held the government of the West under the guidance of Stilicho, whose daughter Maria he married in 398, and after her death her sister Thermantia.
Young, inexperienced and fickle, he fell victim to cunning courtiers. As long as he could benefit from the work of his father-in-law, his rule was rather tranquil and secure. In 402 Stilicho indeed defeated the barbarians of Alaric at Pollentia, and the following year at Verona, while in 405 at Florence he routed the Huns, Sarmatians and Goths. But in 408 Stilicho lost the office of magister militum, being suspected of wishing to elevate his own son Eucherius to the Empire, and was put to death. From that time the Empire was plagued by barbarian invasions and rebellions of usurpers. In 408, indeed, Alaric besieged Rome and only withdrew after receiving a heavy indemnity; peace negotiations were also opened with the intervention of Pope Innocent I, but twice the barbarian’s demands were rejected. Alaric then returned to besiege Rome, set up an antagonist to Honorius in the person of Attalus, and in 410 sacked the city.
Honorius favoured Christianity and hastened the end of paganism with a series of laws. As early as March 395 he confirmed all the privileges granted by his predecessors, obliging authorities to protect the clergy. In the following August he forbade public sacrifices and entry into temples; in 396 he removed every immunity and privilege from pagan priests. In 407 he ordered the closure and spoliation of temples, and in 408 excluded from the imperial palace all enemies of the Catholic faith. In 411 he expelled the Donatists from Africa, and in 418 the Pelagians.
He also enacted good laws to revive Italy’s economy, so sorely tried by war, and especially sought to repair the damage suffered by Rome in 410. As early as 403 he had transferred the capital of the Western Empire to Ravenna.